Ariana Afghan Airlines issues RFP for a 737-500

Ariana Afghan Airlines (FG, Kabul) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the purchase of a single B737-500 for immediate delivery.

The airline is seeking an aircraft equipped with CFM International CFM56‐3C1 engines, each with at least 2,500 flight cycles remaining. It has to be airworthy, not older than 25 years of age, and not due for a C Check for another six months or 1,000 flight hours. The carrier did not specify the cabin configuration sought other than requesting that the aircraft have a single-class configuration with soft dividers allowing for the flexible separation between business and economy class.

Bids are due by December 11, 2021, and have to remain valid for 90 days (extendable by another 30 days). Offers should be priced in US Dollars. Ariana Afghan Airlines said it would expect the delivery of the aircraft within 60 days of the signing of the contract.

The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows the Afghan flag carrier’s fleet is currently limited to one A310-300 and two B737-400s. The airline used to operate a single B737-500, YA-FGA (msn 29074), between 2019 and October 2020, the ch-aviation fleets history module highlights. The aircraft was then transferred to Bakhtar Afghan Airlines (BM, Kabul). It operated the last flight under Bakhtar’s code on October 5, 2021, and began plying domestic routes from Kabul to Mazar i Sharif, Herat, and Kandahar under Ariana’s code on October 17, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.

Out of 389 B737-500s built by Boeing, 133 are currently assigned to operators, although only around a half of them is currently active. Sixty-nine aircraft are younger than 25 years of age.